1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a removable mattress cover or mattress pad which forms an integral portion of the mattress, and more particularly to a removable mattress cover for forming the top sleeping surface of the mattress and possibly for forming both the top and bottom exterior surfaces of the mattress, wherein the removable mattress covers can be selectively removed for washing, cleaning or laundering so that even badly soiled mattresses can be cleaned, rather than replaced, and such that a second mattress cover can be removably secured to the top of the mattress when the first mattress cover is removed for cleaning and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art teaches several different types of independent or non-integral mattress covers. Typical of such mattress covers is the generally rectangular fabric bag which can be pulled over the mattress itself to provide some minimal degree of protection from dirt and the like. When dirty, the fabric bag can be removed and laundered, but such covers provide little or no real protection, and most of the types of dirt and grime, and particularly moisture and materials which cause stains, pass directly through the fabric bags and permanently stain or otherwise soil the top of the mattress itself. Such mattresses, once stained or badly soiled, must be replaced, since the mattress itself cannot be laundered or cleaned in any practical, economical manner.
Other types of mattress covering systems of the prior art include covering a mattress with a vinyl pad or sheet of waterproof material for preventing liquid or moisture from passing into the mattress so as to prevent permanent stains or badly soiled mattress portions. The inadequacy of the waterproof sheets lies in the fact that they are extremely uncomfortable, since they tend to bunch up in wrinkles, folds, creases and the like which are extremely uncomfortable to the person using the bed and which can cause bed sores and the like. Furthermore, such waterproof sheets often slide off of the bed or off of a portion of the mattress so that the exposed portion becomes badly soiled, stained or torn, as does the fallen portion thereby providing little real protection for the mattress itself.
The addition of foam pads or the like over the top of the deck cover or over the waterproof sheet adds little if no real improvement over the prior art systems. The foam rubber pad itself will bunch up, wrinkle, fold and/or move independently of the waterproof sheet, which will also fold, crease, and bend to cause undue wear and discomfort to the person using the bed. Furthermore, the pads have to be cleaned often even though they are normally covered with a sheet or sheet blanket upon which the person actually lays, since sheets or sheet blankets are relatively thin fabric materials which offer substantially no protection from dirt and grime, and since they do not inhibit the passage of liquid or moisture therethrough.
Although a mattress having an extremely soiled or stained top surface can be flipped on time and utilized until the turned side becomes soiled or stained, the mattress must, nonetheless, be replaced, rather than cleaned, and this is particularly important in hotels, motels, dormitories, barracks, some hospitals, some nursing homes, institutions of various natures, furnished apartments, and any similar application having a relatively high turn-over of persons utilizing the mattresses. The prior art systems of mattress covers are totally separate and dependent from the mattress itself, not forming an integral sleeping surface, and lend little if any real protection thereto.
The present invention solves substantially all of the problems of the prior art while avoiding its shortcomings by providing a removable mattress cover for at least the top surface, and preferably for both the top and bottom surfaces of the mattress, and wherein the mattress covers normally function as integral portions of the mattress itself, which can be removed for washing, repairing, laundering, or cleaning, thereby greatly prolonging the useful life of the mattress.